Perspective Agents: July 8
Notes on creating new countries, trust mediocrity, vibe chiefs, and more
[This week’s letter features a sample of perspective-altering news and takes. Based on subscriber feedback, will try to make it a regular weekend thing. The links don’t imply critique or analysis of what’s happening—more developments to change the way we see and experience a world in transition.]
RECENT ESSAY
My most recent post touched on self-perpetuating social negativity, media incentives, and workarounds. You can check it out here.
EDGE PERSPECTIVES
Relevant to the essay is a good follow on Twitter — Pessimists Archive. About technophobia and moral panics throughout history. Puts our current phobias and panics in perspective.
A counter-argument to the current economic mood. Have we ever been more prepared for a recession?
Speaking of preparation and pessimism. On July 4th, a well-known VC debuted his how-to guide to create a new country That’s right, a step-by-step guide on how to start up a new nation-state. It’s currently the #1 best seller in political philosophy on Amazon.
An automated news engine called The Factual uses algorithms to determine the best and worst sources for unbiased news. Its recent news ratings report shows many of the most trusted names in news are factually mediocre. Recommend checking it out, seeing how your news sources rank.
Related from Gallup this week. Trust in news collapsed to historic lows.
How we build our own intelligences will change radically in the near future. Those in the know predict you may have a thinking, digital twin within the decade. “Building a Second Brain” may be the start.
In a cultural sign of the times, a popular new design aesthetic is intentionally intended to make images look “distorted and crazy.” Check out the rise of the 0.5 Selfie.
Speaking of distorted and crazy, QAnon is back.
“The Invisible Cage.” A deep dive into how technological surveillance in China changes governance, authority, privacy, policing, and personal agency.
Related. Global leaders waking up to the gravity of TikTok. Through the lens of geopolitics, it’s not fun and games.
Saudi Arabia is concerned about aging. According to MIT Technology Review, The Saudi royal family plans to spend $1 billion a year discovering treatments to enhance human longevity.
Related. Cracking the New York Times best-seller list: The End of the World is Just the Beginning, a grave warning about global population decline and geopolitical impact. (Check out the thesis below).
Expect to hear more about deep fake use cases and counter-measures. This week features a collaboration between the National Security Agency (NSA) and the University of California at Berkeley to develop novel methods to detect deepfake content.
Related. The FBI recently warned about the growing use of deep fakes in applications for remote work.
Related #2. Amazon recently demoed Alexa mimicking the voice of a deceased relative.
Some automation developments. An AI learned to play Minecraft by watching videos. A research team at Penn built a “microrobot” that can brush and floss teeth. Socks will soon become fitness wearables. The IRS is deploying bots to improve service. Major League Baseball will use 'robot umpires' by 2024. Dall-E might put graphic designers out of business. Scientists recently crafted living human skin for robots.
In medicine. A new AI is catching signs of cognitive decline earlier, which can help reduce the risk of dementia.
Related from Wired Magazine. The secrets of COVID brain fog are starting to lift.
Are we heading towards a creative crisis? According to field studies published in Nature, virtual communication materially curbs creative idea generation.
Lots of turbulence hitting Web3 worlds. Can ‘chief vibes officers’ and NFT influencers keep things positive amid the crypto collapse?
A cautionary tale. How Clubhouse became a "Sad, empty MySpace shell of social media.”
Once anyone could join Clubhouse, the barrier for entry for starting a conference was even lower than renting a meeting room at an airport Hilton, so they were doomed to attract hucksters shelling time-shares.
The co-founder of Ethereum has an interesting web page—and life. Vitalik Buterin lives as a nomad—homeless for the past nine years. His latest essay goes deep into how he does it. Recommended.
YouGov tracks the state of relationships and what we argue about. To keep the peace, watch your tone (here are the tables). (h/t Astral Codex Ten)
A Swedish firm claims to have developed a way to break down alcohol in your blood to stop you from experiencing a deadly hangover after a wild night out.
Trending on Digg: America's Best States For Beer, mapped.
FINAL THOUGHT
A final note about what I found interesting/counterintuitive this week. From David Perrell, a great spotter of thoughtful goods on the Internet:
The Bill Gurley Chronicles: Many of the most successful writers of the past 30 years won't be remembered as writers. Bill Gurley is a prime example. He's a General Partner at Benchmark, the venture capital firm that's backed Uber, GrubHub, OpenTable, and Zillow. You'll notice all those companies are marketplaces. Bill Gurley was writing about marketplace economics in the 90s. He famously wanted to invest in a company like Uber, long before Travis Kalanick founded it. You can find links and summaries to all of Gurley's writing in this two-part series about venture capital, growth, and marketplaces (part 1 | part 2).
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